Reflection
by Jcthegirl
Summary: "Insane, that's what I am, insane. I used to be going insane, and now I am insane." Slight Axel/Xion, oneshot.


_Jordan (jcthegirl) here with another Aku/Xion oneshot, what else could I do for my thirtheenth story? x)_

_Don't really know where this one came from, it was kinda inspired by Harry Potter. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story, they belong to Square Enix and Disney, blah blah blah.  
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><p><em>Reflection<em>

Axel paced about aimlessly, restless though there was nothing to make him so. Running a hand through his wild mane, he looked down to his shuffling boots. From all the walking and pacing he had done, he had thought they would have been worn away at the heels. Instead, they were perfect- if only they weren't. Not only had he walked about, but he had run, sprinted, and done every other form of movement possible. Desperation bordered on insanity as he whipped his weary eyes about, looking for something, anything that would prove to him things weren't truly _nothing_.

Emerald orbs bore into the shoes. He tried to light them on fire with a quick snap of his fingers, gloves not even squeaking slightly or producing that smooth sound of material rubbing together. A dim blaze that flickered weakly hung about his feet, licking at his heels like an obedient hound. Its wavering tongue lapped over the boots gently and slowly crawled onto the coat draped over his legs. There was no heat, no pitying radiance of warmth. For once in his life- well, memory of being a Nobody, nonexistence, all those useless and long terms meant to fit an outcast- Axel was cold. Not just cold, but steeped with frozen shadows to his core. It had seeped into him like a poison, first settling in his fingers and arms and legs, then sliding over his face, and lastly chilling the eternal flame that had once burned in his empty chest.

He watched the blaze die away in fragile sprinkling of dying sparks with an intense gaze. It writhed at his feet helplessly, clutching at the edges of his cloak with pronged fingers. Soon it faded away completely, only a few bright sparks left as proof it had ever existed.

"Better off dead."

His whisper was a low hiss that lingered like an old yet strong scent that left its legacy even after it was long gone. Bringing his head back up, he stared steadfastly at the looming abyss. Breath came out his slightly parted lips as shallow puffs of air. The steady rise and fall of his chest was so small it was nearly unnoticeable. His long legs shifted in anticipation, twitching, and then sent him flying towards the black abyss in a powerful gallop. He panted heavily, arms pumping as he sprinted, but there wasn't that familiar thud thud thudding that pulsed against the back of his mind.

So many times had he thrown himself against that invisible wall of life, trying to shatter or be shattered by it. He would lie down on nothing, hanging precariously on the cliff over death, but never falling, his fingers keeping their grip on the ledge despite wanting to let go. He would look over its edge and wish he could throw himself over it. It was such a temptation, one that had seduced him a hundred times over but was out of his grasp- his grasp laid on the cliff ledge for some unfathomable reason.

He fell exhausted to the shadows below, lying face up to look at a nonexistent sky. Who knew one could miss the thing that hung over his head every day of his nonexistence so much? As he had done countless times before, he summoned his chakrams with a now lost hope. He brought one weakly over his chest and let his arm fall. It simply passed through him, the tip dissolving into grey ashes as it did. A laugh rose in his vacant chest and escaped his lips, a laugh at his own stupidity and fate.

"Insane, that's what I am, insane. I used to be _going_ insane, and now I _am_ insane."

Another merciless and cold chuckle flew from his mouth. He laid unblinking, chest heaving with labored breath and joyless laughter.

But then there was a glint. A small reflection of light- what light? There never was light there- on metal and glass. He saw it in the corner of his eye and ceased his emotionless laughing. Thin elbows propped him up until he sat up fully. Something sat far off to his left, catching light that wasn't there to catch.

He pushed himself from the ground slowly, never taking his eyes off the mysterious object. What began as a curious stride to it broke into a desperate run and stumbling as he neared it. When he finally reached it, he looked at it in disbelief as if he hadn't believed he would have been able to get there at all. Coming to, he closely examined it with wary eyes.

It was a mirror. The silver rim was simple yet elegant, framed delicately around the smooth glass and melded into a three legged stand with curved up tips. There were no dents or scratches or impurities of any kind in the metal, just as the glass. The glass was clear and undisturbed yet did not reflect him, pure and untainted. He wanted so much to destroy it in his fake anger for being yet another pure and perfect thing in the empty realm, another reminder of the pointless "life" he had been bestowed with. And what other purpose did it serve? There was nothing in the mirror, no reflection of him, no-

Movement. Something stirred on the other side of the mirror, its image wavering back and forth as brief flashes of light. He neared and kneeled down to the mirror, it now level with his shifting head.

First a small pair of lips materialized in its center, followed by a face and hair and a cloak. Eyes came last, slowly but surely. They were sapphire and innocent, shining with childlike joy and hope. They smiled for the unmoving lips, which finally twitched upward slightly into a soft but definite smile. She was kneeling on the other side of the mirror as he did.

Axel blinked rapidly a few times in confusion, and then quickly moved on his knees so he was inches from the mirror. He was face to face with her, their gazes locked. She was so familiar. He knew her? Yes, he did, he knew her. She was important, to say the least. Important how, he couldn't tell.

Breathy whispers echoed in his mind- or was she saying them? No, no, she stayed silent, his mind was the one. He plucked at the whispers in hope of grasping a memory or two. Finding one much to his relief, he took one word that had stuck out and stuck in his mind.

"Xion," he breathed out, pressing his forehead against the smooth glass. He nearly jerked back in surprise; he could feel the mirror's cool touch on his bare skin. While he had been cold for so long, this was a different cold, one refreshing and calming. Xion, if he was correct and that was her name, followed his movement to rest her head against the glass opposite where he had placed his head.

His eyes were closed as he tried to discern the voices in his mind. She watched him intently, never taking her eyes off him.

He reopened his eyes to trail the up the mirror and to hers when they found something else. A single tear streaked down the unbroken reflection, leaving behind miniscule droplets of salty water to cling to the glass as it began a straight path downwards. He realized it was not alone- another tear followed the same path from the other end of the mirror.

His smoldering emerald eyes rose to hers. He couldn't remember the last time he- wait, he had at the clock tower, the last time he saw Roxas. If only he- they? - could go back there, whether it be real or not.

So she had to be important, very important. Important enough to make him shed a tear- not an easy feat; he was a Nobody after all. Not to mention just Axel as well. Things like memories, broken but healing flashed in his eyes as he looked at hers. When they became just her cerulean orbs once again, he had this true blue, actual feeling that things were right with her there. Things hadn't felt right for a long time.

It didn't matter if his memory was shattered. He had an eternity to piece it back together. He smiled back, a somewhat crooked grin on lips accustomed to a sarcastic smirk. Her soft smile widened into a gentle, caring look. She parted her lips, her mouth wide open in the unmistakable position to say something, perhaps to say the beginnings of a name, but he only could imagine the noise that he would have heard; no sound ever came out.

"A-"

Sooner or later though, you always have to wake up.

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><p><em>Yeah, idk. You know the mirror in <em>Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone? _That's kinda where it came from. I was going to make it like he just wasted an eternity away in front of the mirror, but then I put on _Avatar_ as I began writing this and heard "Sooner or later though, you always have to wake up." XD So credits to _Avatar_ for that lovely quote :U_

_Anyways, hope you enjoyed it. Sorry if it's a bit abstract and confusing. "Axel goes crazy after he disappears" sounds boring in my opinion. XD_


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